With You By My Side, I Can Get Through Anything
by danyisqueen
Summary: Demi was kidnapped walking from a friends house one night. While kidnapped, she meets and befriends fifteen year old Selena Russo, who has also just been kidnapped. In their time being held captive, they quickly become close, using one another to get through the rough nights. After five months in captivity, they're finally rescued. But once happens once they're saved? Read & Review
1. Chapter 1

**Full Summery**: Demi was kidnapped walking from a friends house one night. While kidnapped, she meets and befriends fifteen year old Selena Russo, who has also just been kidnapped. In their time being held captive, they quickly become close, using one another to get through the rough nights. After five months in captivity, they're finally rescued. When they're forced to go to school, Selena can't handle not having Demi to help her, so her parents switch her to Demi's school. In doing so, the two girls-still completely traumatized, stop hanging out with their friends and only hang out with each other. Worried, their parents try to keep them apart so they'll be able to regain their lives. What happens when after two weeks, Selena hasn't had Demi to calm her down, and she makes a mistake that may cost her her life? This is the tragic story of how two girls come together through terrible means, but eventually find love and solace in each others arms.

**Warning**: This story contains rape, abuse, self harm, and attempted suicide. If any of these offends you, please don't continue reading from here on out. In the chapters were rape is mentioned, I will let you know before that part comes up. I never go into grave detail about the rape, but it is mentioned. If you don't like that, or are uncomfortable with it, please don't read this story.

**This chapter contains mention of rape, and goes into slight detail. Nothing to graphic.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Taken

I was so stupid. My parents used to warn me all the time about going out late at night by myself. They told me how dangerous it was, and how I should never do that. Of course, me being me didn't listen. I never listen. Well look where that got me. _  
_

I guess I should explain myself, huh? Well, five months ago, I was kidnapped. It happened so suddenly. One minute I was walking from Caitlyn's house down Carter Avenue, and a black Honda pulled up next to me, a man jumped out. I felt something hit my head, then the next thing I know I was waking up in this room.

A four wall room made of plaster, with a metal frame bed with handcuffs keeping me down and a lumpy mattress, a tub and a toilet were against another wall and a wooden straight back chair was off to the side. An unpainted wooden door was on the fourth wall. That was it. A bed, tub, toilet, a chair, a door. No windows, nothing.

When I woke up, both of my hands were cuffed to the frame, my head was throbbing.

I was naked.

There was a man on top of me.

There was a man _in_ me.

I remember exactly how it felt, and how I started screaming at the top of my lungs until my throat was raw. It hurt _so bad_. I'd never been with a guy in that way before, and to suddenly wake up with him inside you? I know for a fact I've never felt pain like that in my entire life.

I kept bucking my hips, but he seemed to like that, so he went harder. I stopped moving after that, but I didn't stop screaming. Five months later and I still have yet to stop screaming. I never will.

It felt like he'd been raping me for hours, but when he was done he said it was only twenty minutes. When he got off of me, I finally got a good look at him-my eyes were closed the entire time. He was older, probably in his thirties or forties, with a receding hair line, and a beer gut. He's was easily three times as much as my 92 pound body, and when he laid his entire weight on me, it was near impossible for me to breathe.

When he asked for my name, I wouldn't answer him. It's been five months and I can count of one hand how many sentences I've said to him. All of them are along the lines of 'fuck you, cunt.', 'get off of me, you rapist!', or 'go fuck yourself, prick.'. But when I wouldn't answer him, he'd always hit me hoping I'd cave.

I've never caved.

So he gave me a new name. He started calling me his 'babydoll' and would always stroke my cheek. Every minute with him makes me want to kill myself more and more.

I was there for only a week, I think-the days all started to blur together-when he brought someone else. A girl younger than me. I remember because I woke up one day with another mattress on the floor-guess he didn't have another frame. The door slamming shut was what woke me up, and I quickly sat up, shoving myself into the corner of the mattress. I was only handcuffed when he. . . well, you know.

He dropped the girl on the mattress-still unconscious, and probably younger than me, fifteen, no more than sixteen. She had black wavy hair covering her face, a tight hoodie and black jeans tucked into brow boots.

"Babydoll, come over here and meet the new girl." The man spoke in his raspy voice, probably due to all the cigarettes he smokes. "Babydoll!" He screamed when I didn't move. "I _said_, come here!" I guess he realized I wasn't coming, he stomped over he, and ripped me from the bed by my arm, causing me to scream in pain. He slammed me into the wall twice, my head slamming against the plaster. "I gave you an order, you do it. Got it, bitch?" He threw me towards the girls, who were starting to wake up. I was dizzy from being slammed into the wall, so I ended up falling onto the girl, stirring her slightly, but not enough to wake her.

The man watched us for a moment, before stomping from the room, leaving us alone. The door slamming shut and locking must have woken the girl, because she stirred and blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the low lighting. Once she looked around, and must have remembered how she got here, she threw her body up and away from me, slamming into the wall while screaming "stay away!".

I held up a hand to calm her down, and to show her I didn't mean her any harm. "Hey, hey, calm down. It's okay. You're fine. I'm not gonna hurt you, I swear."

"Why-where-how- where am I?" She finally cried, brushing black bangs from her eyes, allowing me to see beautiful brown eyes. "W-who are y-you?"

"I don't know where we are. I was taken about a week ago, off of Carter Avenue. I've been in this room since. Do you remember where you were taken from?" I spoke slowly, trying to get my words to sooth her. At least she woke up better than _I_ did.

She shook her head widely, bangs falling back into her face. "I-I was j-just walking around, w-when h-he c-came up be-behind me. He-he put a cl-cloth to my mouth an-and I went- went to sleep."

Suddenly, the girl threw herself against me, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug, and crying into her shoulder. Having been raped and molested everyday for a week, I instantly tensed up at the sudden touching, but I realized just a week ago I was in this position, and I needed a hug. So I pulled her closer and wrapped my arms around her, to which she instantly relaxed her body, shifting so she was practically sitting in my lap.

"Whats your name?" I asked as I ran my fingers through her hair-my mom used to do it to me to help me calm down. It seemed to work, because her loud screeching died down so she could answer me, but the constant flow of tears and heavy breathing didn't stop. "I'm Demi. Demi Torres."

"I-I like that. Its p-pretty. I-I'm Selena. S-Selena Russo," she mumbled into my neck.

Selena. Thats a pretty name. I really like it. "I like that. How old are you?

"Fi-fifteen." Shit, this girl was only fifteen? She's so young.

"Whats your favorite color, Selena?"

"Purple."

"I like purple. Mines, like, aquamarine. Favorite movie?" I had a plan to keep asking her pointless questions to distract her. I didn't know if it would work, but anything was better than listening to her sob, so, it was worth a shot. "But, like, I want your favorite from every genre, then your all time favorite movie."

It took her a moment to answer me, so I guess she had to think about this. "Uh, favorite drama is _I can do bad all by myself_ by Tyler Perry. Comedy is _Step_ _Brothers_ or _Pitch Perfect_. Action is_ Sucker Punch_. Horror is _Grave Encounters_, one, not two. And musical is _The Sound of Music_. I guess my all time favorite movie is _Coraline_ though, I have the entire script memorized."

"I've never seen Grave Encounters, but I love literally every movie you just named." I laughed, causing her to chuckle into me slightly, though that wasn't enough to get her to stop crying. "I know all the words to _16 Going on 17_, even the guys part. Favorite cartoon?"

"Easy, _Teen Titans_."

I remember that day clearly, when Selena came. It took me an hour to calm her down, but every now and then, she'd randomly start crying, and I'd hold her and distract her until she calmed back down. I remember that worked until later that night-I knew it was night because he only ever came after work. We were laying down on the mattress on the floor, when I heard the locks being undone, and instantly sat up, pushing Selena behind me as a last ditched effort to protect her.

Its funny, I've only known her a few hours, but I was already attempting to protect her. I didn't tell her about the man, and what he'll do. She didn't ask, and I didn't offer, though I'm pretty sure she knew why she was kidnapped.

The man walked in, in his standard work uniform-blue jumper with 'Tim's Auto' in the right corner. He smelled like gas and smoke, with grease stains on his large rough hands. I heard Selena suck in a scared breath and press hard into my back, digging her nails into my hips.

"You're awake, good." He laughed as he stared at us. Selena, in her normal clothes, and me, in the to big black boxers he gave me, long sleeve white shirt. No bra, no panties. He never let me wear any. "I was afraid I put to much chloroform on your rag."

The man shuffled over to us, and ripped me from Selena, easily throwing my small body off and onto the other bed. He came over to me and cuffed both of my wrists, before turning back to Selena, who was now pressed against the wall.

I had to listen to her scream and cry and beg for him to stop as he went on doing what he's done to me for the past week to her, for the first time.

When he finally left, two hours later, after he was done with both of us, I pulled Selena onto the bed I've been sleeping on, and wrapped the thick black blanket around us both. He had taken her shirt off, or, more correctly, ripped it off with a knife, so now Selena was shirtless and pressed into me. She kept rubbing her hands down her body as she cried, like it would make his touch go away. I could do nothing besides hold her.

I cried too, but more from sadness and desperation than pain. It didn't hurt so much anymore. Everything was kind of numb. Selena though, cried because she hurt. Physically and mentally. She'd just been assaulted after waking up and realizing she was kidnapped. If she _didn't_ cry, I'd think there was something wrong with her.

"You'll be okay, Selena." I kept mumbling into her hair as I ran my fingers through it. "It's okay now. He's gone." I wasn't going to tell her that he would come back every night.

"I-It _hurt_, Demi. It h-hurt _bad_." She sobbed into my neck as she tightened her hold on me. We were laying so I was on my back, with Selena practically on top of me. She had her arm around my shoulders, her nails digging into them each time she sobbed, and one leg thrown over mine. I had both of my arms around her waist.

I never considered he'd be her first too.

"I-It really hurt, an-and I-I didn't w-want my fi-first time to-to be-" she cut herself off as she cried harder into my shoulder, and I pulled her closer to me.

"I know, Selena. He was my first time too."

* * *

Things went on like that for a while. He'd come in, do what he did, beat us if we didn't listen, do the deed, then leave. It was the same thing every night. We've been here close to five months now, and Selena had long since stopped yelling. She just laid on that bed and cried, usually softly, loudly when he hurt her.

He broke her, I guess. Because she doesn't fight him anymore.

He hasn't broken me. He never will.

Some nights are particularly worst than others. For example, two nights ago, he brought over two friends, and let them have their way with us. That was my first three some. I cried so hard. I screamed so loud. It hurt more than the first time I had sex. I couldn't sit on my butt for almost a day after that. Selena actually screamed again that night. She screamed and cried out in agony, right along with me. Right when I think we're done, and someone has finished, the other guy would replace the first, and continue where he left off. The man who kidnapped us kept forcing his. . .thing in our mouths, making us gag. I didn't like it, not one bit. It felt like I had a fat cucumber in my mouth. I especially hated it when he came, because it was salty and he always made us swallow.

I remember one night particularly better than any of the others. That was the first night he beat me so bad I was afraid he was going to kill me. He probably would have, had Selena not intervened.

He came in one night with another guy, someone who has been here before. I instantly knew tonight wasn't going to be good. It never is when he has friends. It hurts more than usual. This guy is rougher than the others. I remember him well. He's mixed, with a shaved head and sleeve tattoos. I remember his. . . you know, in my. . . back door for the first time. You never forget something as painful as that.

"Get on the bed," he demanded, pointing to the bed on the frame, not the one of the ground. "Both of you. Now."

I was already on the bed, but Selena wasn't, since she was just waking up from last night, after the man had been extremely rough with her. I watched as she slowly walked over to me, pulling down the way to big shirt to cover her thighs. The man gives us clothes every few days, after he bathes us-God, I cry every time those happen-and this time, both of us were just in long shirts, black bra and matching thongs. Both of us were pretty small, below 100 pounds, and the shirts were XXL. They barely stayed on our shoulders, and hung down to almost mid thigh. When we sat down, they pooled around us like blankets.

Selena had just reached the side of the mattress, before the mixed man must have gotten annoyed at how slow she was going-she was hurt and tired-and pushed her onto the back. Startled from the sudden push, she fell onto my lap, unable to stop herself. She didn't move, and I didn't make her. Instead, I wrapped my arms securely around her waist, holding her tight.

"Take your tops off." The man who took us ordered, and Selena quickly did what she was told. She never did fight him. She slid off of my lap, but didn't go far. She kept her legs over my thighs as she pulled off her shirt. I've seen Selena shirtless alot, so it isn't something new to me. Her tanned stomach is flat and covered in bruises, the same as mine. "You too, my Babydoll. Take your fucking shirt off."

"Fuck off," I weakly sighed as I leaned against the wall, not looking at him but at the wall in front of me.

He got close to the bed and leaned over, so close our noses were almost touching, and I could smell the whiskey on his breath. "Selly, baby," he laughed, not taking his eyes off of me, but I could see Selena flinch at the pet name he gave her. "Take her top off." He ordered, finally looking at Selena as he went back to stand next to his friend.

"Wh-what?" Selena asked, scared and confused as to what was going on. So was I, since he had never had one of us undress the other. I wasn't sure where he was going, but I'd be damned if I was going to be apart of it. "N-No."

"I said do it, so fucking do it! You don't want me to get angry now, do you?" He asked as he stroked Selena's cheek, slapping her as he finished his sentence. "Now fucking move!"

Selena slowly slid closer to me, and moved so her hands were on the hem of my t-shirt. "I'm sorry, Demi." She mumbled as she looked away, but not before I saw the fear and regret in her eyes. I didn't fight it, because I wasn't going to let Selena get hurt due to me.

Once both of us were half naked, both men looked at each, before the mixed man laughed and said "kiss her."

"Wh-what?" Selena gasped as she turned to look at me, her surprised face probably matching my own. "W-why?"

"Because I fucking said so," the mixed man snapped, taking a threatening step forward, making us both flinch. "DO IT!"

I made the move, only because Selena was to frozen to do anything. I grabbed her shoulders to keep her from moving, and pressed my lips to hers. Now, I'm seventeen, and I've had my fair share of kisses, so I know what a kiss is, and what isn't. This isn't a kiss. This is my lips pressed against Selena's, neither of our lips were moving. I briefly opened my eyes and found hers closed, so I moved mine to look over at the two men, who were just watching.

"Babydoll," the man said roughly, and we both pulled apart. "Put your hand in her underwear."

"_What_?" I screeched, staring at the men with wide eyes. There was now way in hell I'd help them _rape Selena_. "You're insane if you think I'm doing that to her."

The man stomped over to me, and roughly gripped my arm, pulling me up and towards the wall. He punched me in the stomach once and tightened his hold on me, so I couldn't collapse-which is what I wanted to do because that _hurt_. Before I even had time to react, he was slamming my head into the plaster, making me beyond dizzy. I kept trying to fight him off, but he kept slamming my head into the wall. I was starting to see black spots, and it was getting hard to keep my eyes open.

"STOP!" Selena suddenly yelled, startling us both. "Stop!" She cried softly. "Stop. Sh-she'll do it. J-just d-don't hurt her."

The man laughed as she threw me lightly onto the bed, which just hurt me more, and Selena quickly rushed over and cradled my head in her lap. "So do it, Babydoll. She clearly wants it."

I could tell Selena wanted anything but that, but she didn't want him to kill me. "Give her time to get her head together!" Selena screamed, "you almost killed her!"

"No," the man shrugged, "Babydoll, do it _now_." He ordered as he walked over and moved me from Selena, and pushed her down onto the bed. "Get on top of her." He shoved me towards her.

"I'm sorry, Selena," I mumbled as I hovered over top of her.

"I know." She squeezed her eyes shut. I did too, though.

That night, was the first night I had sex with a girl. That was also the first night Selena didn't cry while it was happening. It was the first night I didn't scream when it happened to me.

* * *

Thankfully, he never made us touch each other again, because three days later, the police came and busted the door down. I wonder what they thought, when they saw a grown man jumping up off of a bed with two girls in it while he was wearing no pants, and neither girl had underwear on? The man had started to. . . touch one of us while he was. . . in the other, and thats what the police walked in on. He was. . . touching me, and. . . in Selena.

The cops went to arrest him, but when he fought back, they shot him in the leg. I later asked why they didn't kill him, and a young female cop said death would be to easy on him. He deserved to rot in prison.

The cops looked away while we put our underwear back on, and gave us their jackets to wear since all we had on was long shirts. Two cops carried us outside, and thats the first time I knew for sure we were in a house. I had always guessed it, but now I knew for sure we were in a basement below ground.

There were two ambulances waiting for us, and they laid us in each one so the EMT's could check us out before taking us to the hospital. Both of us were crying still, from being touched and from being rescued, but when I heard Selena scream my name, I pushed the EMT away, and jumped down from the back, my bare feet slamming into the concrete as I ran to Selena, who was still screaming for me.

I found a cop trying to hold Selena down so the EMT can put a needle in her arm. She was screaming and thrashing her arms around the entire time she cried and yelled for me.

"Get the hell away from her!" I yelled as I pushed the EMT away from Selena, surprising him enough to drop the needle. I turned to the cop who was still holding her down, and I saw exactly what I knew Selena was seeing; not a cop trying to help us, but the man holding us down. "Get away! You're scaring her! Move!"

The cop did what I said, though probably only because he was desperate to calm Selena down, and I quickly climbed onto the bed with her, pulling her close to me. "Shh," I mumbled into her hair as I ran my fingers through it, something I've come to learn really calms her down. "Sh, Selena. It's okay. They got the dick, and soon, we'll be home, and won't have to worry about him anymore."

I knew I should be scared too, and I was, but for some reason I was more worried about Selena than me, and I just wanted her to calm down. I was never one to cry in front of people-these last five months aside-so I refused to make an even bigger scene than Selena was already making.

"Hey, c'mon, Selena," I said as I pulled her closer to me, so she shifted so she was laying against me. "You need to calm down, okay? Nothing is going to happen to us anymore, we're safe."

"Promise to stay with me?" She mumbled into my neck as she tightened her arms around my shoulders. "Don't leave, Demi."

"I promise I'm never going to leave you," I said firmly as I leaned back so my back was on the bed, and Selena was half on top of me. "I'm always going to be here for you, Sel. Always and forever."

Not much later, the ambulances drove away. They tried to put me back in the one I was originally in, but both me and Selena refused, and Selena threatened to start screaming again. They let me stay. As we were driving away, the female cop from earlier was in the ambulance with us, and me and her were talking once Selena fell asleep.

I refused to answer anything about the man, so she just started talking to distract me, like I would do for Selena. It worked, too, because before I knew it, we were at the hospital being pushed into an exam room.

* * *

We had to be sedated for the exams. Selena wouldn't stop crying and I wouldn't stop screaming. When I woke up, I was in a hospital room, hooked up to an IV and both of my parents and two sister. Dallas was here, when did she get back from college in Cali?

Selena wasn't anywhere I can see.

My mom and Dallas were crying, while my dad was holding my sister Maddie. My mom threw her arms around me, causing me to flinch, and she instantly pulled away.

"Oh, honey," she sob, and Dallas hugged her, though I didn't move or talk. "I'm so so sorry this happened to you. We're here for you, all of us. You're getting out of the hospital in three days. Dallas is gonna stay here with you tonight, okay honey? That way you won't be alone."

My mouth was dry and felt like I had a bunch of cotton balls in there, but I somehow managed to talk. "Se-Selena."

"Selena?" My dad asked, confused as to who Selena was. "Is that the other girl the cops saved?"

I nodded. "Wh-where is she?" I promised Selena I wouldn't leave her. She's probably terrified.

"With her family, honey. Why?" My mom asked gently, as she put her hand over mine, though I jerked it away. I didn't want to be touched.

"I-I want to see her." I said firmly just as a doctor walked in. Before she could even ask how I was feeling, I was already talking about Selena. "Where is she? I need to be with her. Is she okay? Is she awake?"

The doctor nodded. She was a younger woman, probably in her earlier thirties, late twenties, with pale blonde hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. Overall, she was very pretty. "Selena is fine. She's awake, and she's been asking about you non stop. I'm Doctor Elliot. Do you know where you are, Demi?"

"Let me see Selena," I demanded instead of answer. Just because this lady said Selena was okay doesn't mean I believe her. I won't believe her until I see Selena with my own eyes. "Take me to her."

"You have to answer these questions, then talk to the police. After that, we'll see about allowing you to see her. We have to talk to her parents first." The doctor said, making me roll my eyes. "If you don't answer them, you can't see her, okay? Now, do you know where you are?"

"Hospital," I rolled my eyes. I just wanted Selena.

"Good, now, does anything hurt? You've suffered slight head injuries, rib bruising, malnourishment and a broken hymen." Dr. Elliot made a note on her clip board as she watched me.

"No." Really though, my ribs kind of hurt, and my head hurt, but if I told them that they might not let me see Selena. I can suck it up. Everything else. . . it wasn't a surprise to me. The broken hymen part made me want to cry, but, there is no way I was crying in front of my family.

"You've been out for a few hours now, are you groggy? Light headed? Anything?"

"No." She made another note. I gave her another eye roll. "Can I see Selena now?"

Dr. Elliot shook her head, and sat her clip board on the end of my bed. "Okay, Demi, here's the thing. The police have to talk to you, okay? You need to tell them everything that happened these last five months. Then you can see Selena."

* * *

An hour later, once the police had left, and Dallas had calmed me down enough so I was not longer bawling my eyes out-the doctor threatened to sedate me, and if that happened I wouldn't have been able to see Selena, so.

"Since Selena is only fifteen, she's in the pediatric ward. It's on the next floor, so we'll just take this elevator down, I'll walk you to her room, and give you guys some time. Her mom is allowing you guys as much time as you need, but you need to get off your feet soon, since you refused to use a wheelchair." Dr. Elliot laughed as we rode the elevator down to the kids floor. She isn't lying, since I refused to be pitied and be forced to use a wheelchair and pushed around like I can't take care of myself. I can.

The pediatric ward is exactly what it sounds like. A floor full of sick kids. Instead of the plain white walls I'm in, this floor has bright blue walls with fish painted on them to look like water, rooms with toys, cribs, you name it, there's something kiddy in the room. A play room with the walls painted to look like a forest had some kids in it, all ranging in age. Some had no hair, others were hooked up to IV's. The entire scene was just freaking sad looking.

Dr. Elliot knocked on an opened glass door-all the rooms had a glass door so doctors can look in them-and slowly walked in, with me following behind. Inside the room, the walls were painted light green, the windows were opened to let in light, a hospital bed was in the center with a pink blanket, and a TV in the shape of _Spongebob_ was playing _Coraline_. I couldn't help but laugh because I knew that was her favorite movie.

I was paying attention to the movie, so I didn't see Selena slamming her body into me. She quickly wrapped her arms around my neck, and my arms automatically went to her waist, pulling her close.

"I'll give you guys some time," Elliot smiled as she left, closing the door behind her.

I pulled Selena away from me, and looked her over. The cut on her cheek looked clean, her hair was brushed and washed like mine, and like me, she was wearing sweat pants with the hospitals logo, and a plain white t-shirt-mine was black, because thats what I requested. She had those funny little hospital socks on with the sticky things so you can't slip on the tile. She looked okay, but I had to make sure. "Are you okay?"

"Besides being forced to stay with a bunch of little kids?" She scoffed, making me smile. "Yeah, Demi. I'm fine. Just. . . overwhelmed, I guess. I just want to go home. You?"

"Tired, and annoyed. They keep asking questions that I don't want to answer," I mumbled as we walked towards her bed, and sat down. "What about you? Have the cops talked to you yet?"

She shook her head. "No. My mom is making me wait until she knows for sure I'm strong enough. Plus," she said quietly, "I kept screaming for you. . ."

I threw my arm back around her waist and pulled her close. "I kept refusing to answer questions until I saw you. The doctor had to threaten to not let me see you if I didn't answer her questions. I needed to make sure you were okay. I promised I'd be there." I mumbled as I turned to look around her room. "Nice room. It's uh, bright."

She laughed and playfully hit my stomach. "Ass. You have to be seventeen to be in the adult ward, so, here I am. But you know, sucks for you because I get to watch Coraline, and you don't, so," she flipped me off, causing us both to laugh. "This is the second time in a row I've watched it."

"I bet it is, Sel," I laughed as she pulled herself closer to me.

We were silent for a while, just watching the movie, and I thought Selena was asleep, until I felt her shift and tighten her hold on me. "I'm scared, Demi."

"I know, I am too. But, we're safe now, he can't hurt us. He can't hurt you, I won't let him. Soon, he'll be in prison for the rest of his life, hopefully becoming someone's bitch," I finished off angrily. After five months of abusing us every single day, I hope they make him suffer day and night for this. After he took our virginity, pimped us out to his friends, did_everything_ to us, he deserves what he's getting then some. But, the worst part of it was what he made us do to each other. I can never forgive myself because of that. Even though he made us do that, I still feel responsible because _I touched Selena_. I know she didn't want it, I mean, I didn't want it either, but, I don't know, I feel like I should have stopped it. I can't forgive myself. Ever.

* * *

So, here was chapter 1. I know it was rushed, but this was just a. . . a prologue basically, to introduce the main story line. I just wanted the kidnapping to be briefly described and all in one chapter so it can just be an opener. I don't want the kidnapping to be the entire story, but I do want it to relate to the way Selena and Demi interact. I plan on writing the entire story in Demi's POV, but there might be an occasional chapter written in Selena's POV.

Uh, the way the abuse was described in this chapter is probably how it'll be when mentioned in others; i.e. flashbacks, therapy, nightmares, cops. Those kind of things. I will never outright describe the rape, so if any of you guys are uncomfortable with those types of stories I promise you this isn't one of them.

Also, I didn't change much in the story, just fixed some grammar issues. Message either myself of YourLipsMypoison if you have questions!


	2. Chapter 2

I had to spend the night in the hospital, but since my dad had to work early, and my mom need to get Maddie up for school, they couldn't stay with me. Dallas offered to stay, but I told her to go home. I didn't want anyone to stay anyway. I just wanted to see Selena.

At nine, that's when my family left, and after they tried to kiss me bye-I flinched away and told them "no, please, not yet". They just gave me sad understanding smiles before leaving, opting to pat my shoulder instead. The gesture still made me flinch, but I tried to hide it. This was my _family_, not him. They weren't going to hurt me.

Earlier today a social worker came in and introduced herself. She said her name was Margaret Dupree, but everyone called her Peggy. She was pretty tall, with pretty mixed skin and black hair. She told me she specialized in abused children, and that while I was staying in the hospital, I'd see her everyday. She'd set up a time with me to meet her when I'm released every other week.

Peggy was a nice woman who knew not to sit to close to me, and loved to laugh. Before she explained what would happen, she told me she loved to sing, and when she was younger, around my age she said, she went to this camp over summer for young talented singers, and won the end of the year competition. I told her I liked to sing, but never in front of people, and she said she hopes I'll eventually let her hear me sing.

Then, once I seemed comfortable enough around her, we started talking about the important stuff. She told me my abuser's name, Luke Williams, a sex offender paroled in 2010 after spending eleven years in jail. He got out five years early, and broke his parole when he kidnapped me and Selena. That's how the cops found us, she explained, when his parole came to the door, she thought he was acting suspicious, so she and others knocked the door down. The rest is history.

"Breaking his parole agreement automatically gives him the remainder of his original sentence, so five years there," she explain, then went to tell me how many years he'd get for kidnapping and hurting us. "Selena is fifteen, and the law states that kidnapping anyone under fifteen is a class 2 felony, so that alone is 12.5 years jail, most likely without parole. Add that, breaking parole, and kidnapping you, he's looking at 25 plus years in jail. That's without the sexual abuse."

I told her I wanted this over with as soon as possible, and she responded with saying he had a court hearing in two days, until then he'll be staying in a county jail. She has extremely high hopes he'll spend the rest of his life in prison.

We talked for another hour or so, and at that time she told me it would be hard to adjust back into the real world. You aren't going to trust anyone, she told me, you won't want to be in a room alone with a grown me, even your father possibly. She warned me it'll be hard to get back into school, but lucky for me Summer started a few days ago. I completely forgot I missed most of my Junior year.

"You'll be depressed, sad, angry, blame yourself. You'll think 'well what if I didn't go out that night?' or 'if I just would have paid more attention to my surroundings'. But, this isn't your fault, Demi. That man is a disgusting vile piece of trash. He's vermin, there's nothing you could have done to prevent this." She told me, packing up her things for the night. "That's all I have time for today, Demi, I'm sorry. I'll be back around the same time tomorrow to continue our conversation."

After she told me bye, she wrote down her number and handed it to me. "It's always on loud, so call whenever you need me. If it's three in the morning and you feel unsafe, call me right away. I'm a short ten minute drive from here." Then she left.

Well, now it's almost eleven, and I can't sleep. Nurses come in every hour, so even if I was able to fall asleep, they'd just wake me up anyway. Machines beep to loudly, and I can't find a channel on the TV I like, so I'm just sitting here watching infomercials. I didn't have a phone, I didn't have a computer, or even a book, so lying in the dark reminded me all too much of lying in Luke Williams basement.

It was weird, to finally know his name. After all five months, I didn't know his, and he didn't know mine. I couldn't help but wonder if someone told him mine now? Does he finally know the name of the girl he spent five months raping? I hope not. I went five months without him knowing it, and I don't want him to know it now.

Finally, after about an hour of trying and failing to sleep, I left my room. I didn't tell the nurses where I was going, I just got up, pulled the IV thing with me, and hopped onto the elevator. It didn't take me long to decide where to go, either her room or the cafe, so clearly the choice was obvious.

I hoped she wasn't asleep, otherwise this slightly painful and tiring journey would be pointless. As I walked through the empty hallways, the nurses to busy at their stations to notice me, I slid her door opened and walked into the dim room, the only light coming from the Spongebob TV.

"Sel?" I whispered as I walked towards her bed. I could make out her figure, lying still on the bed, but she didn't seem to be moving. "Sel, wake up." I said again, causing the form to move slightly, but she still didn't seem to be awake.

With a sigh, I slowly made my way over to her bed, and slid into next to her, laying on my back since it hurt my ribs to lay on my side. Like I thought, Selena was asleep, curled on her side facing the TV, but when the bed dipped into my weight, she rolled over and wrapped her arms around me. "Good night, Sel." I whispered as I pulled her close.

"Night, Dem," she mumbled before falling back asleep. With her by my side, and the TV playing-you guessed it, Coraline-it was easy to fall asleep. So that's just what I did.

Sadly, I was only asleep for about forty-five minutes before I felt a nurse calling my name. They're all probably smart enough to know not to touch either one of us to wake us up. They made that mistake on Sel earlier. "Mmm, what?" I mumbled, half asleep.

"Are you Demi?" The nurse asked. I had no idea what she looked like, since my eyes weren't open. All I did was nod, too tired to talk. "Your nurses are looking for you upstairs. You shouldn't have left without telling a nurse. I'm getting a wheel chair and escorting you up there, hold on just a second, Demi."

I was too tired to fight her, and Selena had stopped cuddling me away, now laying on her side facing the other way, so I slowly got up and sat in the small chair when she brought it, silently pushing me back up into my room, where my nurse was waiting for me. "Next time, Demi," she laughed, "tell me where you're going."

* * *

The next morning, it was Selena who came to visit me, bright and early. "You weren't there when I woke up." Was the first thing she said to make after calling my name a bunch of times. I noticed the IV didn't have as many medicines on it, meaning they took her off some. Probably the pain killers, since there was nothing really wrong with her. The doctors all say we'll be on the nutrients until we leave, something our BMI being in the underweight range, which raises chances of infection. The nutrients and having us eat four times a day will raise our BMI, but we can't leave until they see our weight increasing. Three day stay was just an average guess, but if our weight doesn't increase quickly we can't leave the hospital. The doctor tried to explain to me that a healthy seventeen year old girl should weigh between 115 and 130, and I weigh about 95, so I'm drastically underweight.

Sel was the same, though she weighed slightly more than me, and was a few inches taller, but our BMI's were close to the same, which worried the doctors.

"I fell asleep with you next to me, and I woke up without you," she said as she walked over to me, sitting on the side of my bed and throwing her legs over mine.

She looked better, kinda. We probably looked the same. This is was the first night in five months where we got to sleep the entire night, but it still felt like I haven't slept in months. Just because we're out of the basement doesn't stop the nightmares. I could tell Selena was the same. It was all over her face.

"Your nurse sucks," I laughed as I shifted a bit so she'd be more comfortable. "She woke me up in the middle of the night 'cause my nurses didn't know where I was, so she sent me back here. How are you feeling?"

She shrugged, moving to lay down beside me, staring up at the ceiling. "Physically?"

"No." I knew how she was physically. Underweight, bruised, with scarring, but besides that she was fine.

"I figured," she sighed. "Probably like you. I met the social worker yesterday. She seemed nice, but I didn't talk much, or. . . about that at all. She just kinda told me about her life. Her name's Juliet Van Heusen, or something like that. She's really nice. She talks alot, but it saved me from talking, so."

I nodded, then told her about Peggy. "She explained how the guy is gonna go to court tomorrow. She thinks when his actual trial comes up he'll get life probably. So there's that."

"Cool." She said, turning to look around my bleak room, nothing like the pediatric ward.

"Yeah. . " there wasn't much to say after that, so we just sat in silence for a while, watching morning cartoons on the TV. It wasn't that bad, slightly depressing, but overall, the thought of Luke Williams going to jail and rotting in prison, most likely being beaten and raped like he did to us and the girl before us, gave me a sick satisfaction. And why shouldn't it? He deserves everything he's going to get.

"Are you hungry?" I slid her my apple sauce, having no desire to eat it at all. My breakfast was pretty big, with two pancakes, a waffle, a piece of toast with jelly, and some apple sauce along with apple juice. I ate both pancakes and the toast, with half the waffle remaining and all the apple sauce. "I hate apple sauce."

"Are you serious?!" She laughed, grabbing the bowl and spoon, quickly digging into it. "I could _survive_ on apple sauce! I love it so much!"

I couldn't help but laugh, she was adorable. "Well, go ahead and eat it all. I can't stand it. I only like apple juice, and it has to be Mott's. I hate all the other kind. Apples included."

"You're weird." She said after a while of just staring at me with wide eyes. The statement caused us both to laugh hard just as two doctors came in, both mine and her's.

"Your nurse told me you'd be in here, Selena," her doctor, Dr. Brown, laughed as she moved the food tray away from us. "How are you girls feeling today? You look better."

We both shrugged as answer. I didn't like talking to doctors much, even when I had an appointment I'd let my mom do all the talking. I guess that was even now too. "Fine. My ribs are sore, but the meds are helping."

"And your head?" That was my doctor's question, Selena's doctor checking over her IV's. "We've scheduled you a CAT scan later today to make sure there are no lasting problems, but you seem fine. It's just precautionary." I nodded, and she kept talking while Selena's doctor talked to her. "Your ribs weren't hurt much, so they should heal perfectly fine in the next day or two. We'll take you off the meds tonight or early tomorrow. Right now our main concern is your weight. You weigh 96.4 pounds, and with your height, that makes your BMI 17.6, which is _very_ underweight. People with malnourishment face a variety of problems, ranging from dizziness to easily broken bones and organ failure."

I wrinkled my nose, but didn't say anything. I never really saw the problem with not weighing enough, I mean, I've never been a fat kid, never really pushing more than 110 being my highest weight I remember being. I just have a naturally high metabolism. I was paying attention to Sel's doctor giving her the same speech, but something about her BMI is 16.0, less than mine.

"Demi, do you understand this? You need to eat everything we give you, okay? This is a very curable thing, but it can also be very deadly."

"I get it," I nodded, moving so I was sitting up. "How long do you think it'll take to get my weight back to normal?"

"Well, a hundred pounds is just breaking normal weight, so once we get you there, or you show signs you're closing to reaching there, we can let you go. To healthily gain five pounds, that's with eating healthy food and exercising like you should, about two weeks. But, laying in a bed and eating four times a day, you might gain that in a week possibly. When we told your parents you'll be able to leave in three day, we didn't realize your BMI was so low. We're looking at another couple days of you in the hospital."

I didn't bother to say anything or complain, because honestly, why would I? If I stay here I'm away from the pitying eyes of my parents and worrying questions from Dallas.

"What about me?" Selena asked, leaning her head against my shoulder. "Am I in here just as long?"

"Possibly. Possibly longer." Dr. Brown explained, handing her her chart. "A BMI under 18.5 is underweight and slightly worrying. A BMI under 16.0 could cause serious health problems. Whereas Demi is at risk as well, her height actually saved her. Though you were both on the same diet, she is about three inches shorter, making her BMI higher, while your's is lower. Selena, as of right now, if you catch a cold, your lungs could fail you, and you could die. It's highly important, I can't stress this enough, that if you go anywhere, Demi you're included in this, besides this room or your own, you wear a breathing mask. That ichy piece of cloth can be the line between life or death."

* * *

Later that day, after me and Selena had spent the entire day in my bed watching crappy reruns of reality shows, a nurse came to take Selena back to her room 'cause her mom was there with her sister. Another thing I learned about Selena today that she didn't tell me yet, she lives with her mother and step father Brian. Two years ago they had her first sibling, Gracie, after her mom had a miscarriage the year before.

I told her to go, since it was about one, and Dallas should be here any minute anyway. We both had to see our family. No matter how much we liked being by each other's side, we know we need to see our family.

"I brought you a Big Mac," Dallas said when she walked through my door. She held up the McDonald's bag as proof. "No pickles. Your favorite."

I wasn't really hungry, so I only ate half of it. I figured if it was still warm later, Sel could have it. "Thanks, how's class?" Before everything happened, the last time I had talked to Dallas before hand she had just gone back to another semester of college, but I have no idea what she's doing now. It's been about six months since we've talked.

"Nothing new, um, there's this guy I started seeing about a week after I got back to college. His name is Calvin, he's pretty nice. He's flying out here in about a week to meet the family. He wants to meet you, I told him how close we are and that we were practically inseparable growing up so he wants to meet you. Is that okay?"

"Yeah." To be honest, I wasn't sure if it was okay or not, but this meant something to Dallas, so it meant something to me. "What else?"

"Uh. . ." she frowned, and I could tell she was struggling to find something to talk about. "Nothing, really. Um, you and Selena seem close. . ."

"Yeah, spending five months locked in a basement with someone really gets ya close." I heard myself say before I could stop myself, and watched as Dallas's shoulders sagged.

"I-I'm sorry, Dem. I shouldn't have said that. . .I just meant that she seems nice. . . you talked about her a lot. . .I'm sorry."

I shrugged, not having the energy to say it's fine, even though it _was_ fine. "We are close, she's really nice, and really funny. She. . . I really like her."


	3. Chapter 3

I've been in the hospital for five days now, and yesterday Peggy came in to tell me how to court hearing with Luke Williams went. The judge had him put in jail until his trial, with no chance of bail. It'll be a while until his actual trial date Peggy tells me. This is something I don't have to worry about for months, apparently. These things take time.

"Demi," my doctor says to me as she walks in. My body isn't killing me today, so I'm lounging in a chair watching _Long Island Medium_. "It seems your ribs have healed, which is good news. Also, your head is healing at a low rate, but that's to be expected with malnourishment. My best bet is that within the next couple of days you'll be heading home. The only real reason you're still here is due to the high infection rate people with malnourishment face."

I nodded my head, not really caring about any of what she told me besides the fact that I get to leave here soon. "That's good."

"Also, a friend is here to see you. She said her names Caitlyn Gellar, should I allow her up, or send her on her way?"

I paused, unsure if I wanted to see Caitlyn. Before everything happened, she was my best friend, we hung out almost every day. It was perfect, we understood each other and were best friends since childhood. But now, I wasn't so sure how she'd react. I knew mine and Selena's name was all over the news, along with Luke Williams, so I knew Caitlyn knows what happened to me, and I was afraid she'd act differently towards me. Treat me like I'm weak or something. "Um, sure." I finally decided, but only since she drove all the way up here to see me, which is an hour drive from my house.

She nodded before standing up. "Alright, I'll send her up."

It didn't take long for Caitlyn to get here, and when she saw me, she instantly started crying and threw herself against me. "I missed you so much," she sobbed into me, and for some reason I started crying too. Caitlyn was the only person to see me cry, well her and now Selena. "I'm sorry so I didn't come sooner!" She said between breaths, "your mom wouldn't let me come up. She called me today and said I could see you, so I left work and drove up here!"

I didn't say anything-couldn't say anything-so I just held her tighter, crying into her neck. Finally, after about ten minutes of us crying and Cait running her fingers through my hair telling me she loves me, we pulled apart. "I missed you too, Cait. Did school suck without me?"

I was trying to keep the conversation light, hoping she wouldn't address the elephant in the room. She seemed to pick up on that, and even though I knew she wanted to know about it, she gave me a soft smile and sat on my bed, simply saying, "your doctor says you'll be coming home in a few days."

"Yeah. My head and ribs have almost healed, and I put on two pounds, so." I know two pounds isn't alot, but when you weigh less than 100 every pound counts. "The food here kinda sucks, but they're making me eat every less bite four times a day so I can put on weight."

We just talked back and fourth for a while after that. I told her how the hospital was, and she filled me in on our friends. Apparently about three months ago my best friend's brother started dating this girl, and got her pregnant. It wasn't too big of a deal, since he was almost nineteen and had moved out a while ago, but it's Shane and Nick's first niece or nephew, and Nick's excited. Shane isn't too happy, since he was never the biggest on the thought of kids. Never has liked them, even when they'd all babysit their cousins, Shane would refuse to hold him.

I also found out Cait is finally with Sander, someone she was talking to before everything happened. "He, uh, made it easier, you know? I worried about you every damn day, but he was always by my side, ready to convince me it'll be okay. And he was right," she finished with a soft smile, tears still in her eyes. "I love you, Demi."

"I love you too, Cait." I said as I pulled her into a hug, leaning up from my chair to grab her.

We hugged for a bit, before an awkward cough had us pull back, and I turned to the door to see Selena standing there with an odd expression on her face. "Hey, Sel." I couldn't help but smile at her, and she gave me a small one in return. "C'mere." I held my hand out and watched as she drug the IV along with her, before sitting down in my lap, resting her head on my shoulder and looking at Caitlyn.

"Hey, I'm Caitlyn. Nice too meet you." Cait said with a nice smile as she held out her hand. I could tell Caitlyn recognized her, and knew exactly who she was and how I knew her. Dallas told me our pictures were all over the news.

Selena shook it softly, saying, "hey, I'm Selena Russo. Are you Demi's sister or friend?"

"Friend, we met back in middle school. How you feeling?"

Selena shrugged while she answered, though I could feel her push herself against me slightly harder. "Fine. Going home soon, so that's pretty cool, I guess."

We all talked back and fourth for a little bit, Caitlyn just getting to know Selena and vice versa. It took a little bit, but I could tell Selena was slowly warming up to Caitlyn. It wasn't hard to not trust Cait. She was an amazing person. After about almost two hours of Caitlyn being here, a nurse came in and told us she had to leave. Visiting hours were over for us. It was time to meet with our social workers and therapist.

* * *

Today was the first today I had therapy. My mom set it up about two days ago, and basically me and some shrink'll sit down and she'll try and get me to talk about it and I'll ignore her. That's probably what'll happen. No matter what she tells me, I'm not talking about it. I won't. At least Selena's mother didn't push her into therapy. I wish my mom was like hers. This is just a waste of money.

"Hey, Demi." A lady smiled as she walked in, tan folder in hand. "I'm Rachel Michelson. It's nice to meet you, can I sit here?" She pointed the chair facing my bed, and I nodded slowly, pushing myself up against the pillow. "So, how old are you, Demi?"

"I'm pretty sure you read my file, you know how old I am." I didn't want to do this. I wasn't going to make it easy for her.

Rachel nodded, placing the folder on the bed. "Yes, I know how old you are. You caught me. I'm trying to just get you warmed up to me, starting with small questions and working our way up to important ones. So, how old are you?"

"You know how old I am." I repeated, taking a sip of Pepsi. I finally convinced the doctors to stop trying to give me fake apple juice and either get Mott's or Pepsi, so here I go.

"Demi," she sighed, bringing her hands together. "This will go much easier if you just answer the questions. I cleared my entire schedule today for you. The sooner you answer my questions, the sooner I can leave, which I can tell you want."

"Seventeen. I'll be eighteen in March." I said, taking another sip. "What about you?"

"I'm thirty-eight."

"Do you have any kids?"

She nodded. "Three, two girls and boy. The girls are twins, and are about two years younger than you actually. The boys eleven."

"What would you do if your kids were kidnapped?" I asked bluntly, trying to get a real reaction from her.

"I'm the one who should be asking the questions, Demetria. Now-"

"I don't like being called Demetria. Now, what would you do?"

"Demi-"

"What would you _do_?"

Rachel sighed, standing up and grabbing the folder. "Clearly, you have no interest in this. I'm not going to waste my time if all you want to do is get a negative reaction from me. I'll have to call your mom, and I'll suggest a therapist outside the hospital who specializes in problematic teens."

"I'm not problematic!" I yelled, suddenly very annoyed with her. Who the hell does she think she is? "Isn't it your job to help people?"

"It's my job to help, yes. Not to answer questions about my children. I would love to help you, Demi. But you're not interested, and I'm not one to have my time wasted." She said as she walked to the door, before turning around to look at me. "Demi, I don't mean to sound mean or rude, but I'm treating you like the adult you want to be treated as. And what I'm about to tell you is what I'd tell a problematic adult; if you don't let me help you, when you get discharged, you'll have no _one_. Your family and friends will be there, but they won't understand. That'll annoy you, you'll feel completely alone yet suffocated at the same time. I could help you prepare for that."

"How do you know that?" I asked, just to stop her from leaving. She isn't telling the truth. . . .is she?"

"When I was thirteen," she started off with a sigh, leaning against the door frame. "My mother started dating this guy. He spent every night molesting me and my sister. My sister couldn't handle it, and she killed herself two years later. I was fifteen, she was sixteen. That pushed my mother to drink, leaving me alone with the boyfriend. He'd pimp me out to his friends when mom wasn't home, so he would have money to spend on booze. That lasted until I was eighteen. I moved out the day I turned eighteen and moved in with my best friend. I didn't talk to my mom for seven years, I kept ignoring her calls and she had no idea why. One night, my cousin calls, he says 'Rach, Aunt Molly passed out.' She had a messed up liver, has had one for a couple years by then, and eventually died because of it." She said, not once breaking eye contact. I could feel my mouth wide open, completely taken off guard. "What happened to me in my past, it pushed me to become a therapist for teens. I could understand what they were going through. So, next time, Demi, give me a shot."


End file.
